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90 • FOODSERVICE EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES • MARCH 2018
THE FOOD TRUCK
PHENOMENON
The road hasn't always been smooth but
food trucks continue to flourish with new
brands, mobile extensions of brick-and-
mortar restaurants and catering operations.
By Lisa White
E
ric Silverstein's food truck business has undergone an
evolution since launching eight years ago. The former
attorney's original plans to open a restaurant went in
a new direction when the recession hit. He credits his
sister for pushing him to take the plunge and start The Peached
Tortilla food truck concept in Austin, Texas, in 2010.
Silverstein compares his food truck journey to a seed that has
sprouted many tree branches. "I started with a leased truck, be-
cause I didn't know anything about maintaining it. Then I built
two trucks, which became a thriving catering business," he says.
In 2015, Silverstein was ready to move forward with
his initial plan and built a 2,500-square-foot restaurant. A
recent expansion transitioned that into the 4,500-square-foot
Peached Social House, which includes a catering kitchen,
100-seat event space and offices. In March, he will open his
first kiosk restaurant at the airport in Austin.
For Silverstein, the food truck business was a jumping off
point for something bigger. However, not every food truck
aspires to expand into full-fledged catering or a brick-and-
mortar location.
Matt Geller, president of the Los Angeles-based Food Truck
Association, estimates 2017 final numbers will show mobile food
vending to be a $2.5 billion market in the U.S. "This is com-
pared to an estimated $600 million segment in 2011," he says.
Los Angeles-based market research firm IBISWorld re-
veals 43 percent of monthly food truck spending comes from
25- to 44-year-olds, compared to 20 percent coming from
consumers younger than 25 years old.
"No one has done a study on this segment yet, but by our
estimates there are 6,500 gourmet food trucks throughout
the country," says Geller. "There are currently about 350
gourmet food trucks in Los Angeles County alone."
Coming into its Own
Richard Myrick, editor-in-chief for mobile-cuisine.com and
author of "Running a Food Truck for Dummies," started
monitoring the food truck segment in 2010. At that time, he was
working out of Chicago, which had some of the most stringent
rules and regulations regarding the operation of food trucks.
"Back then, it was difficult getting trucks into certain
cities, and Chicago, along with other cities, was not keen on